The team took human cadaveric hearts and removed all of the cells using a detergent solution, leaving behind the extracellular matrix or scaffold, composed primarily of collagen protein. Then they added adult stem cells from human patients; the adult stem cells bound to the heart protein scaffold and began to form cardiac cells, essentially growing heart muscle on the protein scaffold within a lab bioreactor.

According to Dr. Taylor:

‘The hearts are growing, and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next weeks. There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functioning heart, but my prediction is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant.”